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Editorial

  1. The conclusions of the Fourth Assembly and Third International Seminar of ASOSAI held at Denpasar Bali during June 1988 touched on many issues of fundamental concern to Government auditors. They included an impressive range of technical issues covering the need for SAIs to have a broad legal mandate, the various facets of resource considerations, the methodologies and practices relating to the specialised areas of tax audit and audit of public debt and the measures for maximising the quality of audits and audit reports and to ensure effective and efficient performance. The discussions and deliberations that finally led to the endorsement of the Bali declaration on the 'Role of audit in promoting reforms for efficient public administration and corporate management' is a gratifying achievement for the ASOSAI fraternity. It can be seen as providing a benchmark against which SAIs can consider their own approaches in the light of their particular circumstances. It is hoped that the Bali declaration will prove useful in advancing the work of SAIs and that the members would strive to maintain the momentum generated by the Fourth Assembly for continued strengthening of government auditing.
  2. In the Bali Assembly the leadership of ASOSAI changed hands from Japan to Indonesia. Mr. Keiichi Tsuji President, Board of Audit, Japan formally transferred the charge of ASOSAI Chairmanship to Mr. M. Jusuf Chairman, Supreme Audit Board, Republic of Indonesia. We congratulate Mr. Jusuf and with his active support hope to march forward. We would also like to place on record our deep appreciation of the support Mr. Tsuji gave for this journal during his Chairmanship.
  3. MAY of this year will mark the tenth anniversary of the first Assembly of ASOSAI in New Delhi. Since that occasion the international seminars and assembly held every three years have established mile stones in the field of government auditing through exchange of ideas and experience amongst member SAIs . In the field of research the maiden venture of bringing out a monograph on Accountability and Control of Public Enterprises is taking shape and will be published this year. Significant progress has also been made in the field of training of auditors in the member SAIs.
  4. The Bali declaration has again placed renewed emphasis on training and professional development of government auditors. A number of international training programmes and seminars are organised each year by some of the member countries. It is customary for the participants of such programmes to present papers explaining the position in their countries on the selected topics. In India a Committee of the participants is formed to bring out a comparative review of the country papers presented. An analysis thereof is prepared by the Course Director. We feel that such an output of training should be of interest to all member countries. In the last issue of the journal one such comparative review was published. The present issue of the journal features the output of two such programmes. It would be interesting to know the reaction of the member countries in this regard. We invite other member countries to send us material on the programmes held by them.
  5. As we have said before, the journal is yours and you have to help us to serve you better. We again appeal to you to contribute articles, case studies, news items, book reviews and other material for a better communication with one another.